As anybody familiar with Checkers knows, these were not cars designed to last the ages. They were built to be used up, run hard by taxi drivers and to be replaced as needed. Thus, it’s more than unusual to find actual physical remains of any Checker prior to about 1960, and it’s downright rare to find a complete car. Joe Fay, however, recently discovered this 1950-1952 Checker A4 in Connecticut. Joe writes:

I think I need to join a 12 step program. Just found another 1950-52 Checker A4. Until I see the serial number, I am not sure what year was produced. Some say its restorable, but I have not actually seen the car so, will see when we get it home.

It’s currently in storage just south of Hartford, Ct. The car appears to have been a NYC cab that was parked at a dairy in the late fifties.

I get lots of emails from people asking me “how did you find it?” then they go on and tell me that they have been looking for these old Checkers for twenty years etc. The funny thing is: I have never looked for one, honestly, they seem to find me. An email or phone call comes in, then boom, I own another Checker.

For what ever reason, I seem to be the guy you call if an old Checker is found!

This A4, by the way, will join Joe’s own personal pre-1960 Checker fleet. He already owns a 1949 A3 and is thick into the restoration of a 1950 A4, which he recently recorded driving around his neighborhood:

I love old Checkers, they are just weird enough to be interesting. To paraphrase George Carlin “I see the same things you do, I just look from a slightly different angle”. It seems that Checker designers always marched to a different drummer. (Block that metaphor!)